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'Bad Education': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about Hugh Jackman's HBO film

The 'Logan' and 'Les Miserables' star plays the lead role of Frank Tassone, a corrupt school superintendent, in the HBO movie

With the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic still raging on, it looks like we're going to be self-isolating for a while. But if you're in the mood for a fun dramedy to keep you entertained during these difficult times, HBO is preparing to release an epic new movie starring Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano and more for your quarantine viewing.

Here’s everything you need to know about the film:

Release Date

'Bad Education' had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will be arriving on HBO on April 25.

Plot

The movie follows real-life incidents that happened at writer Mike Makowsky's high school. The main focus of the film is an embezzlement scam with a respected school superintendent at the heart of it. Here's how TIFF describes the movie on their website: 

"Long Island school superintendent Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) and his assistant superintendent for business, Pam Gluckin (Academy Award winner Allison Janney), are credited with bringing Roslyn School District unprecedented prestige. Frank, always immaculately groomed and tailored, is a master of positive messaging, whether before an audience of community leaders or in an office with a concerned student or parent. In short, it seems Frank can do no wrong. That is, until a plucky student reporter (Geraldine Viswanathan, also at the Festival in Hala) decides to dig deep into some expense reports and begins to uncover an embezzlement scheme of epic proportions, prompting Frank to devise an elaborate cover-up — by any means necessary."

"Inspired by a true story, Bad Education is a smartly assembled, darkly hilarious, at times squirm-inducing chronicle of the most astonishing financial crime in the history of the US school system. Directed by Cory Finley (Thoroughbreds) from a script by Mike Makowsky, who was a student in the Roslyn School District when the scandal became public in the mid-'00s, the film is a master class in duplicity, with the charismatic Frank taking extreme measures to not only shield himself and his colleagues from the law, but also to keep his carefully constructed façade from crumbling to pieces."

"The breadth of Tassone's deceptions and double life were startling, and Bad Education is similarly complex in its scope. Every new twist requires nuance to convey, and Jackman and Janney are the perfect pair to carry off their characters' journey of camaraderie, conspiracy, and betrayal."

Cast

Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, and Ray Romano

'Logan' and 'Les Miserables' star Hugh Jackman plays the lead role of Frank Tassone, a corrupt school superintendent. The Academy Award-nominated actor is joined on the cast by Academy Award-winner Allison Janney as Tassone's right hand Pam Gluckin and Emmy Award-winner Ray Romano as Bob Spicer. Geraldine Viswanathan plays student reporter Rachel Bhargava, who brings Tassone's misdeeds to light. 

Other cast members include Alex Wolff, Kayli Carter, Rafael Casal, Stephen Spinella, Annaleigh Ashford, Hari Dhillon, Jimmy Tatro, Jeremy Shamos, Kathrine Narducci, Welker White, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Peter Appel, Ray Abruzzo, Catherine Curtin, Pat Healy, and Victor Verhaeghe.

Director and Writer

Cory Finley and Mike Makowsky

Finley is a New York-based filmmaker and playwright born in St Louis. His debut feature, 'Thoroughbreds', premiered at Sundance to rave reviews. The script for 'Bad Education' was penned by Mike Makowsky. He is a producer and writer, best known for his work on 'I Think We're Alone Now' and 'Take Me'.

Critical Response

'Bad Education' received favorable responses at TIFF and Rotten Tomatoes has given the movie an 89% fresh rating on their Tomatometer.

News

Hugh Jackman shared a poster for 'Bad Education on his Twitter page on April 7. "Some people learn the hard way," the actor captioned the image. "#BadEducation premieres Saturday, April 25th on @HBO #stayhome and watch."

Trailer

The trailer for 'Bad Education' introduces all the major players and the $250,000 conspiracy the heart of the story. It looks like this is going to be one epic movie so be sure to catch it when it makes its way to HBO.

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